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4/13Korean"Single Spark" & Videoo S
On April 13 Dr.Chun Soon Ok, the sister of historic labor leader Chun Tae-Il will give a presention on the life&legacy of Chun Tae-Il and the Women Workers Movement in S.Korea.
We will also screen a video about the Korean women workers movement called ""I Always Dream Of Tomorrow"
We will also screen a video about the Korean women workers movement called ""I Always Dream Of Tomorrow"
Labor Video Project & LaborFest Present:
A SINGLE SPARK:
the Life and Legacy of Chun Tae-Il
& the Women Workers Movement in South Korea
Presentation by Dr. Chun Soon Ok followed by
Film Screening of
"I Always Dream of Tomorrow"
April 13 (Sunday), 6 PM
New College Cultural Center Theater
777 Valencia St.
$5.00-$10.00
Sliding Scale Donation Requested (No one turned away from lack of funds)
Chun Tae-il is among the most famous of Korean labor movement martyrs. His death by self-immolation became the trigger for the democratic workers movement that began in the 1970s, and remains a symbol for the movement today. Dr. Chun Soonok, the younger sister of Chun Tae-Il, begins a national tour with a new book on his life, entitled A SINGLE SPARK: The Biography of Chun Tae-Il. Published this month in English, this book describes not only Chun's life but provides the historical and social context of the 1960s and 1970s in South Korea. Dr. Chun, herself a former sweat-shop worker and now a scholar specializing in industrial relations, will give a presentation on her brother's life, the movement his sacrifice inspired, and a current examination of worker's conditions as corporate globalization intensifies. The program will start with an excerpt from the feature film drama on Chun Tae-Il's life, also entitled A SINGLE SPARK (dir: Park Kwang Soo). Copies of the book A Single Spark (Cho Young-rae, Dolbaggye Publishers:Seoul,March 2003) will also be available.
About Chun Tae-Il
Born in 1948 in utter poverty, Chun Tae-il had little education, and worked, like many millions of others, in the garment sweat-shops of Seoul. There, he witnessed the horrific treatment of young female co-workers, who were continually under threat of beatings and rapes by supervisors, while forced to work 16 - 20 hours a day - and barely being paid.
Inspired to help them fight for their rights, he attempted to organize against their brutal employers and the indifferent South Korean military dictatorship. Frustrated at every turn, he made the final sacrifice on November 13, 1970 for the women workers, immolating himself - shocking not only the nation, but the world. His ultimate sacrifice at theage of 22 helped to trigger a Korean workers' movement, and the development of independent labor unions. These democratic trade unions - under continual attack by the then military dictatorship, eventually helped to fuel the largest social protests in the history of Korea, which resulted in the first democratic elections in 1987.
About Dr. Chun Soonok
After working in the factories of Seoul's Peace Market in the 1970s, Ms. Chun became active in the womenworkers' movement. With a special scholarship, she was able to attend college, and received her Ph.D inindustrial relations at the University of Warwick,UK. She has returned to Korea, setting up a womenworkers center in Seoul. Her own book, THEY ARE NOT MACHINES: The Birth of Democratic Trade Unionism in Korea will be out this summer.
About the film:
Film Screening: "I Always Dream of Tomorrow"
2001 · 38 min · 6DV · color · Documentary
Directed by Kim Mi-Re; Produced by the Korean Women Workers Associations United and the Korean Women's Trade Union
"I Always Dream of Tomorrow" is a documentary about the present day struggles of women workers in South Korea. Today, 3 out of every 4 women are non-standard workers (such as part-time, temporary, contracted and other types of highly insecure contingent workers). Everyday, the discrimination of non-standard workers becomes more severe as this workforce continues to grow. This documentary vividly depicts the life, the work and the struggles of low-wage, non-standard women workers in their fight against intensified conditions of exploitation under neo-liberal globalization. In particular, it shows how golf game assistants, teachers at learning institutes, scriptwriters, janitors, cafeteria workers and cooks, and temporary clerical workers - which represent the majority of non-standard women workers - break through their discriminatory status as non-standard workers with collective strength, courage and determination. The militant struggles of these women workers alongside the country's other democratic trade unions - which are among the most mobilized and vibrant in the world - are vivid reminders of the long-lasting impact of Chun Tae-il and other courageous labor movement activists in the struggle for genuine democracy in the Korean peninsula.
For More Information Contact
Labor Video Project lvpsf [at] labornet.org
(415)282-1908
LaborFest at laborfest [at] laborfest.net http://www.laborfest.net
A SINGLE SPARK:
the Life and Legacy of Chun Tae-Il
& the Women Workers Movement in South Korea
Presentation by Dr. Chun Soon Ok followed by
Film Screening of
"I Always Dream of Tomorrow"
April 13 (Sunday), 6 PM
New College Cultural Center Theater
777 Valencia St.
$5.00-$10.00
Sliding Scale Donation Requested (No one turned away from lack of funds)
Chun Tae-il is among the most famous of Korean labor movement martyrs. His death by self-immolation became the trigger for the democratic workers movement that began in the 1970s, and remains a symbol for the movement today. Dr. Chun Soonok, the younger sister of Chun Tae-Il, begins a national tour with a new book on his life, entitled A SINGLE SPARK: The Biography of Chun Tae-Il. Published this month in English, this book describes not only Chun's life but provides the historical and social context of the 1960s and 1970s in South Korea. Dr. Chun, herself a former sweat-shop worker and now a scholar specializing in industrial relations, will give a presentation on her brother's life, the movement his sacrifice inspired, and a current examination of worker's conditions as corporate globalization intensifies. The program will start with an excerpt from the feature film drama on Chun Tae-Il's life, also entitled A SINGLE SPARK (dir: Park Kwang Soo). Copies of the book A Single Spark (Cho Young-rae, Dolbaggye Publishers:Seoul,March 2003) will also be available.
About Chun Tae-Il
Born in 1948 in utter poverty, Chun Tae-il had little education, and worked, like many millions of others, in the garment sweat-shops of Seoul. There, he witnessed the horrific treatment of young female co-workers, who were continually under threat of beatings and rapes by supervisors, while forced to work 16 - 20 hours a day - and barely being paid.
Inspired to help them fight for their rights, he attempted to organize against their brutal employers and the indifferent South Korean military dictatorship. Frustrated at every turn, he made the final sacrifice on November 13, 1970 for the women workers, immolating himself - shocking not only the nation, but the world. His ultimate sacrifice at theage of 22 helped to trigger a Korean workers' movement, and the development of independent labor unions. These democratic trade unions - under continual attack by the then military dictatorship, eventually helped to fuel the largest social protests in the history of Korea, which resulted in the first democratic elections in 1987.
About Dr. Chun Soonok
After working in the factories of Seoul's Peace Market in the 1970s, Ms. Chun became active in the womenworkers' movement. With a special scholarship, she was able to attend college, and received her Ph.D inindustrial relations at the University of Warwick,UK. She has returned to Korea, setting up a womenworkers center in Seoul. Her own book, THEY ARE NOT MACHINES: The Birth of Democratic Trade Unionism in Korea will be out this summer.
About the film:
Film Screening: "I Always Dream of Tomorrow"
2001 · 38 min · 6DV · color · Documentary
Directed by Kim Mi-Re; Produced by the Korean Women Workers Associations United and the Korean Women's Trade Union
"I Always Dream of Tomorrow" is a documentary about the present day struggles of women workers in South Korea. Today, 3 out of every 4 women are non-standard workers (such as part-time, temporary, contracted and other types of highly insecure contingent workers). Everyday, the discrimination of non-standard workers becomes more severe as this workforce continues to grow. This documentary vividly depicts the life, the work and the struggles of low-wage, non-standard women workers in their fight against intensified conditions of exploitation under neo-liberal globalization. In particular, it shows how golf game assistants, teachers at learning institutes, scriptwriters, janitors, cafeteria workers and cooks, and temporary clerical workers - which represent the majority of non-standard women workers - break through their discriminatory status as non-standard workers with collective strength, courage and determination. The militant struggles of these women workers alongside the country's other democratic trade unions - which are among the most mobilized and vibrant in the world - are vivid reminders of the long-lasting impact of Chun Tae-il and other courageous labor movement activists in the struggle for genuine democracy in the Korean peninsula.
For More Information Contact
Labor Video Project lvpsf [at] labornet.org
(415)282-1908
LaborFest at laborfest [at] laborfest.net http://www.laborfest.net
For more information:
http://www.laborfest.net
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